Understanding Forces and Motion - Activities

NC Standard:  4.01, 4.02, 4.04


Activity:  Motion

Question: How can a ball help you move?

Vocabulary: motion

Materials:
a heavy ball (such as a medicine ball or an old basketball stuffed with cloth)
a skateboard, roller skates or roller blades
a water-soluble felt pen or a piece of chalk


Procedure:

  • 1.  Stand on the skateboard. Be sure you are on a smooth, flat surface.
  • 2.  Have another student mark the spot where the back rollers of your skateboard touch the floor and then have the student stand in front of you, no closer than two meters.
  • 3.  Hold the ball in both hands close to your chest.
  • 4.  Throw it to your friend with a pushing motion.
  • 5.  Mark the position of the back rollers of your skateboard.
  • 6.  Repeat steps 3, 4, and 5 several times.


Further Questions:  What happened? Why?


Observations:

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Conclusions:
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Explanation:  Each time the person on the skateboard throws the ball in one direction (action) he or she will move in the opposite direction (reaction). Newton stated this principle as his third law of motion: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." The student throwing the ball will not move the same distance as the ball travels due to such factors as friction and the fact that the person is bigger and heavier than the ball. However, each time the ball is thrown in one direction, the person on the skateboard will move an observable and measurable distance in the opposite direction.


Line of Learning:  This line is drawn to provide students with a space to share their experimental learning in words or pictures.
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